Do you support affirmative action?

If so, why? If not, why not? If so with qualifications, what qualifications?

I just reread the speech Clark gave on MLK day, and it got me thinking about not just affirmative action per se, but that and related issues and struggles we must overcome if America is to "truly live out the meaning of it's creed."

I thought I'd post this as a poll because I know affirmative action is a controversial topic.
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When black Americans are twice as likely to be out of a job, twice as likely to live in poverty, and a third less likely to have health care - then we have not overcome.

When hundreds of thousands of black men sit behind bars and millions never finish school - then we have not overcome.

When our President has the audacity to visit the grave of Dr. King one day, then dishonor his memory the next by appointing an anti-civil rights, anti-voting rights, anti-justice, anti-American judge - then we have not overcome.

And when a political party can suppress the vote and steal a presidential election - when a man can sit in the White House when the only vote he's won took place in the U.S. Supreme Court - then my friends, we still have not overcome.

Today, 140 years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, 40 years after Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, one person, one vote is still not a reality in America.

We saw it in the election of 2000, and right here in South Carolina in 2002, when African Americans were turned away from the polls, purged from the rolls, and intimidated when they showed up to vote.

Today, all too often, it's one person one vote if you live in the right county. And if you vote at the right machine. And if your name is on the right list. And if your skin is the right color.

Well, last I checked, there was no "if" in the 15th Amendment. Last I checked, one person one vote wasn't just a slogan - it was the highest law of this land. And I'm not going to rest until every single American can cast their vote and make their voice heard.

Because I grew up in Little Rock Arkansas - and I have a duty to ensure that those nine brave boys and girls from my hometown didn't face down a mob for nothing.

Because I spent 34 years in the United States military fighting for our freedoms, and I'm not going to stop now.

Because in my heart, I'm not a politician, I'm a soldier. I'm a proud product of the most integrated institution in America. That's why I've always believed in equal opportunity and affirmative action.

For three decades, I served side by side with brave men and women of all races, creeds and religions under one flag - the American Flag. We fought for that flag. I gave my blood and buried my men under that flag.

And let me tell you, no Charles Pickering or John Ashcroft or George W. Bush is going to take that flag away from us. No Tom DeLay or Dick Cheney or Trent Lott is going to take us down the sad, hate-filled path back to that other flag over there.

Half a century ago, Dr. Martin Luther King led us in a great struggle to redeem the promise of our Constitution for all our people - to create a nation where all of us are truly judged not "by the color of skin, but by the content of character."

And today, it's up to us to continue his work.

Scripture tells us to be "confident of this very thing - that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it." My friends, Dr. Martin Luther King began a great work inside each and every one of us - and today, we must commit ourselves anew to completing it.

http://www.securingamerica.com/?q=speeches/2004-01-19

When I applied to law schools, back in the early seventies, women routinely were turned away. Sounds archaic, but it was only a little over thirty years ago.

The law school I really wanted to go to had three females in its freshman class the year before I started. Three out of one hundred fifty students.

That's three women and one hundred forty-seven men.

I was accepted.

My freshman class had fifty women out of one hundred fifty students.

That's fifty women and one hundred men.

It would never have happened without Affirmative Action.

The year was 1972.

We may never have a level playing field in America, but it doesn't have to be so lopsided either.

Just ask Condi Rice. Believe it or not, she's the beneficiary of affirmative action. Check her background.

It has brought black people, women, hispanics, and many others into the mainstream of American life. It isn't a perfect solution, but it is the best one we have given the circumstances.

When I was a kid in elementary school I had one black classmate and one black teacher. Having such limited connections to people of other races made racial stereotypes easier to believe. {Insert ethnicity} are lazy. {Insert ethnicity} are on welfare. {Insert ethnicity} eat strange food. On and on and on.

Through exposure to people different from me - due at least in part to AA - little by little I began to understand some simple truths. There are lazy people. There are people on welfare. There are people who eat strange food. And these same people love their children. Cry at weddings. Grill in the backyard with friends and family. Laugh. Bleed. Weep. Die. People just like me.

I am continually grateful that we had the far-sighted leadership that gave us Affirmative Action. Someday we won't need it any longer, but until that day comes we need it if we are to keep moving toward equality and understanding.

witnessed Clarence Thomas, Condorlizard Rice and Colin Powell allowed to rise through the ranks because of programs like AA only to represent the values of the oppressors...but I can tell you that many minorities need AA, especially in this fucked up and unequal institutionalized racist housing market (see red lining) and educational system.

The day that minorities don't automatically lower property values if more than 2 or 3 minority families move onto a "Suburb" street, is the day that we can cut it off.

The day that we stop seeing "White Flight" from that sames street where those 2 or 3 minority families moved in....is the day that we won't need it.

The day that the "best schools" stop being those that have the least number of black folks attending them is the day that I might even say, we don't need it anymore.

The day that rich and middle class White folks are no longer allowed to pay for those expensive ass classes that helps their kids perform better on the SAT than those minorities who have no means whatsoever for the same advantage, is the day that we can get rid of it.

The day that "Liberals" become true "Liberals" in their hearts of hearts....is the day that we won't be needing these programs anymore.

Until that day, we need it.

She faked it, that's a very deep tan, the woman has no soul.

who have been driven into poverty for generations by one form of bigotry or other. Being a white person, or actually, pink, I have sometimes lost opportunities to others, but, I am not trying to rise up from several generations of oppression, so, I just try to remember to be thankful for that.

...my take is that we try it out for at least as long as we "tried out" slavery in this country, 325 years or so. If things aren't working out by that late date, then we can talk about it. That only seems fair, considering the ugly history that inspired it's use as a remedy to help alleviate past wrongs.

I don't mind AA in the education arena. It gives those from a disadvantaged background an opportunity to get their foot in the door, but they don't get any extra points on exams or homework. However, in the work environment, that messes with someones paycheck and ability to provide for the family. I've seen too many people that were less qualified exploit the system, but were minorities. There's my take, you'll probably flame me.

The time will come when it needs to be re-evaluated, but at this time it is still needed to ensure some level of fairness.